Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Today's post will touch a little bit on the history and origin of hairless cats. Since 1990's, there are various cases of hairless cats that were detected around the world but the first successful and recognized hairless cat breed is what we can see today, the Sphynx. Back in 1903, two hairless kittens were born in New Mexico and was called the New Mexican Hairless cats. It was told that the cats were obtained from Pueblo Indians around Albuquerque. Then in 1950, three hairless kittens were produced by a pair of Siamese cats in Paris, France but only occurs when those two mated and not for other pairing.

Today's Sphynx or hairless cats was originated from Canada in 1966. The cat's name is Prune but died without having any descendants. Soon after, in 1967, a longhaired mother cat was rescued in Toronto, along with her several hairless kittens. Two were brought to Europe where one was bred to a Devon Rex. The breeding program was successful and resulted with hairless offsprings that became the foundation of today's Sphynx. The name sphynx comes from their overall look which resemble an ancient Egyptian cat sculpture.